Media consolidation is an aspect of news today that I feel slips under our radar far too often. We see news on television, hear it on the radio, or read it in newspapers, and take it for granted that these are the stories that we need to hear about. However, what we do not know is that it is very possible that every one of those mediums of news that we sought for information was actually all owned by the same person, with his or her own agenda in mind.
When I think of news, I think of unbiased fact and stories. I think of stories that matter to the people; stories that matter to me. In order to be good citizens and make decisions for our community,
i think it is our right to know exactly what is going on in our local community where we live, as well as world news that may have more significant implications. In addition to this, I think the media keeping the government in check and being the "watchdog" like we discussed in class is also a key job of the media. A lot of what happens in the government, as well as huge corporations that wield great power, happens behind closed doors as they make decisions that will affect the people under them. I want this from our media sources, and I do not want to have to think twice about the stories I hear or read, second-guessing the hidden agenda of the news that is being reported to me.
In class we came up with about five or six of the major news owners in the United States today. With so few presiding over almost all of the media that we have access to, the natural question to ask is, "Are we getting all of the news?". And although media consolidation seems like an unstoppable force, there is still hope for news. Things such as the internet and blogging, along with localized news have been putting up a fight to keep news for the people, and let's just hope it puts up a good fight.
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